Full NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship Field Announced; Hellmuth Among Last 32

Posted at 09:35 2013-01-20 by Rich Ryan

On Friday, Caesars Interactive Entertainment Inc. announced the entire 64-player field for the 2013 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship. Joining the first 32 players announced earlier this week are notables Phil Hellmuth, Michael Mizrachi, Phil Laak, Viktor Blom, and Gaelle Baumann.

The event will be filmed at Caesars Palace Las Vegas Jan 24. through 26, with the first round on each day starting at 1:30 p.m. local time. The draw party – named “Selection Wednesday” – will be held on Jan. 23 at 9:00 p.m. at Cleopatra’s Barge in Caesaers Palace Las Vegas.

This is the eighth installment of the NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship, but only three former champions (Hellmuth, Erik Seidel and Huck Seed) have been invited to participate. Paul Wasicka, Chris Ferguson and Annie Duke will not play. Ferguson has reached the championship match three times.

It's also important to note how the selection process works for this event, as it isn't just the best 64 players in the world.

In 2011, ESPN's Andrew Feldman wrote, "This event doesn't feature the 64 best players in the world. It is a made-for-TV event that features names and faces that the general public recognizes, some deserving players who earned their spots based on automatic entry and celebrities who enjoy the game and could potentially move the needle." Keep in mind that several players received invitations for the event, but declined. One of the big reasons many declined is timing and the fact that the NBC event clashes with the kickoff of the marquee events at the 2013 Aussie Millions.

That said, everyone is going to have questions to some of the entrants and arguments for players who they deem "snubbed" from the competition. While that's a debate for a different day, here's a look at this year's complete list:

The 2013 NBC National Heads-Up Poker Championship

Gaelle Baumann

Jean-Robert Bellande

Andy Bloch

Viktor Blom

Liv Boeree

Justin Bonomo

Doyle Brunson

Olivier Busquet

Dan Cates

Mohsin Charania

Joseph Cheong

Shaun Deeb

Jonathan Duhamel

Tom Dwan

Eli Elezra

Antonio Esfandiari

Will Failla

Andy Frankenberger

Phil Galfond

Matt Glantz

Barry Greenstein

Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier

Jennifer Harman

Brian Hastings

Isaac Haxton

Phil Hellmuth

John Hennigan

Maria Ho

Phil Ivey

Faraz Jaka

Kyle Julius

Eugene Katchalov

Phil Laak

Ben Lamb

Andrew Lichtenberger

Matt Matros

Mike Matusow

Jason Mercier

Greg Merson

Michael Mizrachi

Chris Moneymaker

John Monnette

Chris Moorman

Carlos Mortensen

Daniel Negreanu

David Oppenheim

Greg Raymer

Vanessa Rousso

Rob Salaburu

Matt Salsberg

Nick Schulman

Huck Seed

Erik Seidel

Scott Seiver

Joe Serock

Mike Sexton

Sam Simon

Dan Smith

Justin Smith

Jason Somerville

Jennifer Tilly

Yevgeniy Timoshenko

David Williams

WSOP.com Qualifier

Several players have taken to Twitter to discuss snubs, including David “Doc” Sands, who is disappointed that he wasn’t selected:

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